Report: Carrefour CEO to take chairman reins

By Staff Writer

Paris -- The Carrefour SA board of directors on Tuesday approved a plan for its CEO Lars Olofsson to also assume the role of chairman. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Olofsson will take over as current chairman Amaury de Seze announced Tuesday that he would step down.

"The time has come to reunite the two functions," De Seze said. He will remain on Carrefour's board.

Olofsson is one year into a three-year turnaround plan on which his job depends. One step of the transformation was completed at the shareholder meeting, when investors approved the spinoff of the Dia discount unit. Dia will be listed on the Madrid stock exchange on July 5, and each Carrefour investor will receive a Dia share for each Carrefour share.

Olofsson is also renovating the hypermarket chain in Europe and rolling out thousands of Carrefour-branded groceries.

De Seze said the board and management "will take our responsibility" if they don't meet their targets in the next two years.